Love on the Dole (1940) - Deborah Kerr and Clifford Evans

 

What an extraordinary film. Britain during the height of the Depression. The Hardcastle family struggles to survive. Even before the economic crisis things were hard, but when the layoffs begin and the "means testing" of the overloaded social safety net system begins, famiies are ruined and hard choices need to be faced.

This was only Deborah Kerr's third film, and it ranks as one of her best. She is perhaps the main character in the story, but the rest of the cast all shine in this pristinely restored film from 1940. Set in a worknig class town the story is intense and offers an insight into the hard times between the wars.

There is a finely restored colorized version of this film which does it even more justice, which is unavailable at the moment. But this black and white version serves the story of the Hardcastle family equally well.

Although the captioning may come on automatically at the beginning, it can easily be switched off. Either way, I hope you will take the time to view it.

The title beneath the film labels it as a "banned" film, but that is slightly misleading. When the making of the film was first proposed in 1935 the Review Board turned it down as being "too sordid". By 1940, with the Second World War and the Battle of Britain waging in full, the Review Board seemed to have a change of heart. Perhaps they realized that, with the coming of the war, the people needed to look back on the hardships they had survived in order to cope with the hardships which lay ahead.

"The Secret Place" - David MacCallum (1957)

This is an excellent film which works well as a simple crime drama, unless you look beneath the surface. Then it becomes so much more.

Melinda, a 20 something year old newsstand operator who is engaged to a shady petty criminal, finally realises she has lost the true friendship of 14 year old Freddie; who is really a man at heart; and traded it for the false love of her fiancee, Gerry; a wannabe gangster who is really just a little boy playing at being a man.

A tightly woven script, excellently directed, this film is a great example of British cinema in the post war era. At the time, theaters in Britain were required to show a film made there for every American movie shown. This was done in an effort to revitalize their domestic film industry. David Lean, Richard Attenborough and Alec Guiness, and many others, all got their start as a result in this era. 

Conversely, it also provided for many American actors and directors to make films in Britain. 

This was only David MacCallum's third film, but he plays an important supporting role to Melinda, who is his sister. His performance as a confused and desperate young man is a very different role for him, and he carries his part off well.

"A Christmas Carol" with Alistair Sim (1951)

As we ramp our way up towards Christmas, I always take the time to pause and really enjoy this old film. I have reviewed it here before, so any other words would be superfluous on my part. Here is my review from last year;

This is the cream of the Christmas movie crop. The one I look forward to every year. The 1951 British version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" will stand the test of time as the penultimate version of this tale. With flawless direction by Brian Desmond Hurst, this well known story of a miserly Counting House owner, and the effects his mean spirit have on all those around him, come alive with the incredible acting of Alistair Sim. No one comes close to portraying the mean spiritness of Scrooge, as well as his unbounded joy upon his redemption, as well as Mr. Sim.

Noel Langley did a wonderful job of turning one of the very best Christmas books into a faithful adaptation for the screen. The 1935 British version, as well as the later American version, both lacked that indefineable something which makes any artistic endeavor worth the effort in the first place. And the movie has been done several times since, but this is the version I would choose over any other.

Britain, at the time this movie was filmed, was still in the throes of the aftermath of the Second World War. They were still using ration books for food and sweets, as well as gasoline. Remember, the British took a hell of a hit before we joined the war in December of 1941. I mention this only as a possible explanation for the remaking of this film in the first place.

When I watch this film I tend to think of the Three Spirits as being allegories for what Britain had been before the war, what she endured during that war, and her hopes for a better future. Simplistic? Maybe.

I also watch this film with a copy of the book by my side. It's so loyal to the original prose, that there are whole pages where you can read along with the movie. It's then that you see, and feel, the brilliance of Mr. Sim's remarkable performance. To have the ability to act out the words, just as the author intended, is a joy to watch. I have to wonder what Charles Dickens would have thought of Mr. Sim's giddy version of Scrooge on Christmas morning. I suspect that he would deem it perfect.

Of course, no version of "A Christmas Carol" would be complete without a good Jacob Marley, and to that end this film gives us Michael Hordern as Scrooge's deceased partner. And he does a credible job as the Ghost of Marley. This scene used to scare the hell out of me when I was a kid. Now, I am more focused on what he is saying, "Mankind WAS our business!", as he shakes the shackles that bind him. Here is that scene, courtesy of good ol' You Tube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGGohTPuOeQ

If I had only one holiday movie to choose from, this would be it. The lessons penned by Dickens so many years ago, still resonate today, when the world is still full of Ignorance and Want, mankinds two worst enemies. I didn't say it - Dickens did. I just happen to agree.